Open Banking has made applying to us quicker and fairer, and in 2026 we want to build on it thoughtfully. This article sets out the direction we are taking: deeper, customer-controlled data connections that you choose, that remain read-only, and that you can switch off at any time. The guiding principle is privacy first. We are sharing a roadmap, not a finished product, and we will say plainly what is live and what is still being built as we go. To see where this sits in our wider thinking, start with our technology.
What we have today
Today, you can connect your company’s bank through a regulated Open Banking provider acting as an Account Information Service Provider, or AISP. That connection is read-only: it lets us see transactions and balances to assess affordability, and it cannot move money or change anything on your account. You authorise it through your own bank, and you can revoke it whenever you like. It has made decisions faster for clean profiles while keeping the checks that protect you. PDF statements remain available for anyone who prefers them.
Where we want to go in 2026
The opportunity is to let willing customers share a fuller, clearer picture of their business so we can make better, faster, fairer decisions, always with the customer in control. The themes we are working on are deliberately described in general terms, because the detail will firm up as we build and test:
- Richer affordability signals, using better-categorised banking data to understand a genuine trading business more accurately.
- Smoother re-borrowing for returning customers, so a company we already know does not have to start from scratch each time, where it consents to that.
- Cleaner record-keeping, exploring connections that help your loan sit neatly in the accounting tools you already use.
- Clearer control, making it easy to see what you have shared and to disconnect it.
Each of these is opt-in. None of them changes the fact that you decide what to share.
Privacy first, by design
The more data a connection can carry, the more carefully it must be handled, so privacy is the starting point rather than an afterthought. Our commitments are simple and we intend to hold to them:
- You choose. Connections are something you switch on, not a default we impose.
- Read-only where we are reading. Where a connection is for assessing your account, it cannot move money.
- Used for a clear purpose. We collect data for a stated reason and explain it, in line with our privacy notice.
- Revocable. You can disconnect at any time, with us or through your bank.
- No more than needed. We aim to ask for the minimum that does the job.
What will not change
A better data roadmap does not change the product or its cost. Our live product is a short-term Business Bridging Loan of £50 to £500 over 14 to 84 days, and your figures, the amount, term, total cost of credit and full repayment schedule, will always be on your Key Information Sheet (KIS) and in your Business Loan Agreement before you sign. You can see current amounts, terms and costs on our business loans page. A running-credit facility is a second product we are introducing; where the roadmap touches it, we will point you to our business loans page for what is actually offered rather than imply it is live to everyone.
Nor does it change the regulatory position. We lend to companies for business purposes, so the borrowing sits outside FCA consumer-credit regulation under Article 60B FSMA RAO 2001 and is not covered by the Financial Ombudsman Service or the FSCS. Better technology improves the experience; it does not alter your protections or the escalation route, which after our complaints process is the courts.
The honest summary
Our 2026 plan is to deepen what Open Banking started, customer-controlled, read-only where we read, and privacy first, so decisions get fairer and faster without asking more of you than necessary. It is a roadmap we will build carefully and describe honestly. A short-term loan is still an expensive way to borrow, so whatever we build, the most useful thing better data gives you is a clearer view of the cost before you commit. To follow how this develops, keep an eye on our technology and the rest of our Newsroom.
